Jennifer Pahlka, Founder and Executive Director of Code for America, and Deputy Chief Technology Officer of the United States, will be the commencement speaker at the graduation ceremony for Johns Hopkins University Advanced Academic Programs (AAP) on May 23, 2014, at the Johns Hopkins Homewood Campus, AAP Associate Dean Kathleen Burke has announced.

“The AAP community shares a profound appreciation for Ms. Pahlka’s commitment to civic action and community innovation,” said Dean Burke. “I am confident her address will further inspire the Class of 2014 to continue to pursue personal and professional endeavors.”

Jennifer Pahlka is known for her TED talk, Coding a Better Government, and is the recipient of several awards, including MIT’s Kevin Lynch Award; the Oxford Internet Institute’s Internet and Society Award; and the National Democratic Institute’s Democracy Award. She is a graduate of Yale University.

Ms. Pahlka founded the non-profit organization Code for America in 2009. The mission of this organization is to connect citizens and government to design better services, encourage low-risk settings for innovation, and support a competitive civic tech marketplace.

Ms. Pahlka has taken leave from Code for America to join the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy as U.S. Deputy Chief Technology Officer under U.S. CTO Todd Park. The Office of Science and Technology Policy advises the President and others within the Executive Office of the President on the effects of science and technology on domestic and international affairs.